YWAM Information Technology

Hi,
my first question would be, do you want to study at a college? Or would you prefer to do a half day self study and half day ministry? That's probably something you should talk with God about.

However, I don't know what exactly "Computer Science" means but if you are disceplined enough to do some self study I believe with a couple of books you can learn the exact topics you want, in the order you want and in the depth you want. Well, I guess the down-side is when you run into problems there might be no one who can explain it to you.

Just some thoughts....
Hope that helps.

Greetings from the MatriX,
neo

I did an Associates in Applied Business: Computer Information Systems with a Programming Emphasis. What that translated into was about 1 year of business classes (accounting, intro to business, economics & some other general ed. courses) & maybe about a year of degree-related courses (i.e. intro to logic & programming, a survey of various programming languages [c++, visual basic, java, object pascal], classes in database design along with sql, & systems analysis & design). What I found out at the end of my degree while working at an internship for a major US food company was that I was sorely under-educated for the real world of programming. What I learned, though, was that my degree made me just a wee bit smarter in my decision-making regarding website programming & set up. I'm still not a programmer & I really don't want to be. But at least at this point I can understand the technology enough to try to find the right solutions for different situations. To be honest, I wish there had been some YWAM school that would have given a 3-month intensive experience into programming because I honestly think that I would have gotten the same amount of content out of that, as I did from my 2-year university degree. I don't regret those 2 years, as I knew without a doubt that God had led me to do it. I just think that you're the reason why something needs to happen in this area of training in YWAM.

Bottom line, if you're going for a degree, I'd choose a 2-year degree, unless you're going to want to be a serious programmer... then go for the 4-year options. Make sure that you do some hard studying into the programs that your universities are offering. I found out that my university actually had one of the worst IT programs of all universities in my state. I didn't know that, as I was impulsive & just wanted to get started. I found out later, though, that there were other schools that had much more comprehensive programs.

Hope some of this helps. Bless you as you follow Him.

Chris Bischoff
YWAM Latvia, Communications
www.ywamlatvia.com

I'm studying at the moment and I found a way that suits me in YWAM. Maybe my situation can help you decide on what to do. I have just started a BSc on ICT - Information and Communication Technologies. For me the only real option was distance learning so that's how I'm doing it, and actually that's my best way of learning. I'm self-taught in IT so I knew clearly that I needed some propper training as there was/is a big black-hole in my IT knowleadge. I also want to stay in the web programming side, and I have been learning and using LAMP for a while now, it's great, and I'm a great lover of OpenSource. Apart from studying for my BS in ICT, I'm also doing self study to get certified on Linux Admin, Zend PHP, and for the sake of the IT structure on our base and the continuity of it I'll start learning ASP .NET. So my development is not linked only with the degree but to my areas of interest and/or need.

On the LAMP front you could actually break it apart and self-study on each separate module, getting certified (on your own time) per module.

Linux - http://www.lpi.org/en/lpi/english/certification
Apache - I believe it's included in the Linux Certification
MYSQL - http://mysql.com/certification/
PHP - http://www.zend.com/education/zend_php_certification

Anyway...these are my thoughts, hope they can help you make you decision.

Hey Matt,

After working with YWAM for the past 3 years or so, I have taken a break to do some IT training at a main stream place. I chose not to do a degree but a 9 month diploma in Web Development.
Personally I didnt want to be studying for ages, I'm 25 with a wife and 1yr old son and didnt want to spend the next four years buried in paper work and assignments most of which I may never use. Instead I decided to take the shorter, jam packed course, get enough training to get out the in mission field and go from there. In 9 months we have covered XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and some Action Script. It's allot to cover in a short time, but it has been great. I only have 2 months to go, most of which is spent working on our final project and then we are done.

I had planned on doing some more courses in the multimedia area, but I decided to focus on what I wanted to learn to get me in the door, and do my own further learning afterwards at my own pace.

The school I am at also does a Diploma in Graphic Design (they offer no degree courses). People come here and get the practical training, learn how to use the software, and turn out projects (9 month course too), other people go down to the local university and spend four years doing a degree in Graphic design - most of which is not spent on a computer but doing 2500 word papers on the art history of some font or something weird.

So you can go either way, focus on your main interest and the rest can come later, or stay at school for the next 4 years to get a degree - and still may have to do you won learning later.

Steve

I love how this question has led to me getting the background and educational history of a bunch of you. It has been really interesting to read your stories and learn from your mistakes and get your input and insight. Thanks a lot - it has been really exciting for me to come back over the past few days and read the new comments.

Matt